The Writing Rambler

Friday, June 1, 2012

Well if you haven't heard it by now DC comics has announced that the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott is now gay in the pages of the alternate universe title Earth 2. Everyone in the comics world saw this coming for weeks now but it is official and with that official statement comes all of the ignorant new articles proclaiming "GREEN LANTERN IS GAY". These articles gloss over Alan Scott's history and how he's not even actually what we today consider a member of the Green Lantern corps, nor is he the character that the God Awful movie starring Ryan Reynolds was based on. Does this matter? I think so. DC loves the fact that they are going to have headlines all over the news and they get to do it without actually scaring off any homophobic fans of the actual Green Lantern comics which are one of their better selling books. It's similar to the way that Marvel made headlines when they "made" an alternate universe version of Spider-Man a mixed racial (Black/Hispanic) young man named Miles Morales. There where screams by the national news that "SPIDER-MAN IS NOW BLACK" despite that this change had no effect on the "real Spider-Man". This news is simply a cash Grab by DC comics who are intelligently using a very relevant topic without actually changing a massive franchise they own. So I submit the below pictures/explanation for those of you possibly confused by today's news.

HIM = GAY

HIM = NOT GAY

HIM = NOT GAY

HIM = NOT GAY

HIM = NOT GAY

ALL OF THEM = NOT GAY (THAT WE KNOW OF)

So in closing, calm it down people. DC Comics made one character who's not even really Green Lantern come out in an alternate universe. Hardly what Id call groundbreaking stuff. My assumption is if any of you are riled up by this its because you probably know nothing about the actual comics world which means DC succeeded in exactly what it planned.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

As I wrap up my evening here in a cold and rainy NJ, I'm reminded that today is that grand tree hugging holiday of old called Earth Day. It's a day I don't particularly care for and not just because I'm an ignorant, crotchety, horrible man. It's actually much more than those facts. See I've always had issues with most things that the majority of people accept as the norm ( My current biggest hatred is the Bullying propaganda being shoved down the children and parents' throats of this country, but that's subject for a whole nother horrid ramble). It's not that I'm trying to go against the grain or anything remotely hipsterish like that. I just never liked things that seem to promote how great we as a society are. Here me out if you will. And if you do I thank you in advance because as I've already admitted, I'm a horrible man.
We often love to create days or movements that proclaim to the world how great we are as a people. That if we collectively band together we can achieve anything with simply our own abilities. Here's the truth, we can't. People in general are selfish, prideful beings. No matter how wonderful of a person one may be, deep down inside at our core we are all about ourselves. Earth day is a perfect example of how wonderful we think we are. We as a people have spent years destroying this world we were given and now because we have grown into a more "conscious" generation of people we act as though obnoxious acts of self righteousness are going to fix everything. Walking somewhere for one day instead of using your car every April and then spending the rest of your year buying and wasting products isn't going to fix anything. It's just going to make you feel better about yourself.
Now I also understand there are some who actually live as every day is earth day who only buy recycled products and the whatnot. I also notice that these are usually the most judgmental folk you can run into. I don't doubt their sincerity always, but I often wonder if even subconsciously it's less about saving the planet than it is making oneself feel that they are more elevated of a human being than others. I know I'm being quite judgemental myself here, but I will thrice reiterate, I am a terrible man.
I'll close my poor excuse for a blog entry with his thought. If you really feel that your efforts are leaving an undeniable positive mark on this world than that's great, do it to your hearts content. But until we as people are willing to actually take a step backwards and completely overhaul our minds and hearts individually there is no hope for a societal change. I'm all for good stewardship, I just hate when stewards walk around talking like their the king.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Its been over a month since Disney's John Carter was released in theaters and subsequently crashed and burned upon impact. As far as common knowledge goes, the film was horrible and a giant disaster that Disney will be recovering from for quite some time (don't fret though, they should more than make up for it with the ungodly amount of money that The Avengers will bring in for them over the next month or 2). The problem is, John Carter was a GREAT film. It was fun, accessible to the whole family and was the type of film that Sci Fi fans normally love to watch. While I wont get into the debate of whether this was a better made film than Avatar, I will say as a fan I find it horrifying that Avatar made almost 3 BILLION dollars in sweet sweet box office cash while John Carter is struggling to break 300 MILLION worldwide (it may sound like alot but that 300 mil is pretty much what it cost Disney to make the film).

There's many places one could point blame when looking at this movie. You could chalk it up to The Lorax stealing away many families that first opening weekend or you could blame today's ignorant movie going masses for writing this movie off as an Avatar clone (despite it being the film version of the book that Avatar stole from most), but for me the blame lays squarely on the films parent company, Disney. There's a large fact that everyone must accept about Disney. THEY HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO MARKET SCIENCE FICTION. Sorry I shouted, Im just still upset over all of this. It just drives me insane that a film with so much potential was absolutely wasted by a company that is soooo good at marketing everything else they own. The best example I can give you is the marketing itself. Here's Disney's huge Superbowl trailer for the for John Carter.

Looks kinda like a SYFY network movie of the week right? No explanation of the character, no idea of the plot. Just generic action music and quick shots of scenes we have no investment in. Now lets try a fan made trailer that at least attempts to engage the audience.

Seriously....how much better was that? How is it that a fan sitting at home figured out how to sell this movie but one of the largest movie studios with the biggest marketing machine in the world had no clue? Its just seriously sad that the story that influenced so many of our modern classics has been reduced to a giant failure and will more than likely never see the light of day again. This film could have brought the original books (which are free on most digital reading platforms due to them being so old ) back into popular culture and had the opportunity to influence an entire new generation of readers with its fantastic stories. But instead, we just get a big giant FAIL by Disney who will brush this off and never look back. I for one will do my best to share this film with friends as the years pass and hope it reaches some sort of cult status which is the least it deserves. Such a waste. :-(

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

How are you my love? I hope all finds you well. Its been a whirlwind romance we've had these past 3+ months and I just want to say that despite the current situation we find ourselves in, Ive enjoyed every moment I spent with you. From the first moment I laid eyes upon you, I knew you were something special. You do so many things right and although our own relationship is coming to an end I know you can still provide this world with so much joy. From your price point of $199 to your wonderful app store where you have something free to offer everyday, you are better than you may ever know. I know it seems odd that as I choose to leave you I shower you with compliments, but I do so in hopes that you continue to grow, as I know your future holds great things. That's the future though and we sadly find ourselves in the here and now.
Right now I just need something different. For the most part you did everything I needed, but the one thing I asked you for most you just couldn't provide. I told you when we first met that more than anything I loved you because you gave me access to the world of digital comics. I needed that access, that ability to be able to find things at a moments notice and for a while you did everything you could to give me that. But alas, then came the new year, and you started to get lazy. I'd come to you asking for titles and you'd tell me you didn't have them, even though I knew you did. You tried to blame Comixology for your problems and said it was their fault and for a time I believed you. I tried to tell myself it wasn't your fault but then I looked around and saw that Comixology worked fine for everyone else, just not for you. I started to realize that they weren't the problem.
I know it seems cold to leave you when your down. To just run off looking for someone else who can give me what I'm looking for but that's just what needs to happen and I'm sorry for that. I made sure that someone else would take good care of you. I found them on Ebay and they seem very willing to open their home to you and provide you the love I no longer can. I'm moving on as well. I've recently been looking into opening my heart up to the Ipad. I know its easy to be angry and just think I'm leaving you for the younger, prettier option that's just popped up in my life, but I need that Comixology fix and I know they can provide it. I hope we can still be friends and someday we can both look back and remember our time together with fondness. Best wishes and luck on all of your future endeavors.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

I love me a good underdog story. I mean Since my youth I've rooted for the Cleveland Browns, it doesn't get more underdog than that. With that said, seeing the electric rise of Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin has been nothing short of amazing these past 2 weeks. Now I'm definitely not the first person to have some words on this story and I know I wont be the last but I just found this whole thing too intriguing to not say anything. Now if theres a chance you've been living under a rock for the past several days you may have no clue what I'm talking about, so for the courtesy of educating your ignorance, I am sharing the below link to get you caught up.....go ahead watch away....I'll go make a sandwich or something.....

...okay, there you go...now were all on the same page. So lets discuss. Here we have this fantastic story about an undrafted basketball player who struggles getting into the NBA but gets his moment to shine (one of those moments in life where you either step up or regret not having done so for the rest of your life) and he makes every second count so far. Its just joyous to watch and by the mood of fans and the country in general the consensus seems to be that they are enjoying it as well.

...Ohh by the way there is one other thing that you may have casually observed in the nice video above. Have you guessed it yet? Let me help. You see this guy, Jeremy Lin......[whispers] He's Asian (American of Taiwanese descent to be exact)...... Yup, I can here it already. The sirens of the PC police are on their way to my house for daring to publicly notice that someone is of a different race than myself. Its funny how every story I've seen on Lin walks on eggshells when mentioning his race. Now please understand I am as horrified as anyone when people like Floyd Mayweather run their mouths claiming Lin's hype is only due to him being Asian or the geniuses who run the MSG network find it okay to show a graphic of Lin's face coming out of a fortune cookie (my eyes are still rolling especially at that one), but I just think as mature adults we should be able to recognize what Lin is doing on behalf of Asian Americans and appreciate it for the positive thing that is.

What Lin is doing currently is remarkable regardless of his race. Hes come out of seemingly nowhere to lift a team that has been severely under performing in what most had hoped would be a year of resurgence for the team.Hes inspiring, humble and a marketing dream come true. BUT...... to not say his race has even slightly helped his appeal is ridiculous. Now I know I may have lost some of you with that statement, but please, here me out if you will. Jeremy Lin is doing something groundbreaking and that's a positive thing. Besides all of his on court heroics he is breaking the stereotype for what makes an NBA player. An excerpt from a study published in Slam magazine from 2011 shows the following:

"–In the NBA, 83 percent of the players were people of color, an increase of one percentage point from last year’s totals. This represents the highest percentage of players of color since the Racial and Gender Report Card began reporting the composition of the NBA teams. The percentage of African-American players increased by one percentage point to 78 percent, equaling the highest since 2001-02. The percentage of Asians remained constant at 1 percent. The percentage of Latinos increased by one percentage point to 4 percent. The percentage of people of color classified as other was slightly under 1 percent. The percentage of international players decreased by one percentage point to 17 percent, the lowest percentage since the 2003-04 season. –At 17 percent, this was the lowest percentage of white players since the Racial and Gender Report Card began reporting the composition of the NBA teams."

Those facts alone show that what Lin is currently doing IS unique & theres nothing wrong with recognizing it. I applaud J-Lin (clearly were friends by my casual nickname) and the fact that hes given so many people who don't usually connect to the game of basketball something to cheer for. You cant say the fact that there will be a generation of young Asian American kids who have a new role model to look up to is a bad thing (If there was a large, out of shape Irish-American man with a red beard currently dominating the league, Lord knows I'd be on his bandwagon). Diversity is a beautiful thing and I for one have never subscribed to the "theres only one race, the human race" nonsense. Lets recognize each other's differences, learn from them and be better people for it (yeah even my teeth hurt after typing that one, lol). So calm it down everyone, Jeremy Lin is Asian and he's also awesome. I say hooray for that.

To end this pile of nonsense I call a blog entry I'll say I look forward to seeing where his career goes from here. I also look forward to seeing how other teams adjust to defend him (New Orleans did enough of it to pull off a win against the Knicks tonight) & just how he'll fare with a healthy Carmelo Anthony back on the floor. All in all its a fun time to be watching the Knicks play ( a statement no one has been able to say for quite some time now) and that's good for any real basketball fan regardless of their ethnicity.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Dear friends and lovers..... I must assume at this point if you still follow me its your own fault if you get disappointed in my horrid lack of updates....truly I am a master of slackery (not a word) and all things it encompasses and I realize now that apologizing for it every time I decide to finally post something would just be insulting to us all.....so with that said I will simply say hello and hola (German) and I truly hope you are all well....with that ugly business out of the way lets get onto more pressing matters:

I recently ran into a conundrum..... My daughter, an extremely sweet and funny 8 year old, came to me and asked the question any nerd parent dreads.....that question of course was "Daddy, can we go see Star Wars Episode 1 in 3D?"..... It was like all the air was taken out of the room and I forgot how to speak for what felt like days.....as I recovered from the question I simply said "sure sweetie" and then left her presence to return to my own world of inner turmoil over this series of events that had just unfolded.

Let me say before anything else, I DO NOT HATE EPISODE 1..... Don't get me wrong, I get all of the hate and I fully understand the many reasons nerds around the world gather in unison to loathe this film.....but still for me it wasn't that big of a deal.

I love STAR WARS.....Always have and always will....and though EPISODE 1 is without question my least favorite of all, I still cant find it in myself to say I hate it....this sentiment alone will make many a nerd furious as its become widely accepted that you cant be a real STAR WARS fan anymore without hating EPISODE 1... I say that's nonsense...hogwash even if you want me to get vulgar.....

I've never fully understood all the hatred because so much of it could be applied to any entry in the series....one of the biggest complaints I always here is that the dialogue is terrible and wooden at times (which i fully agree with) but has there ever been a STAR WARS movie that hasn't had wooden dialogue? For all of his achievements, George Lucas has never been the best at writing things people would actually say....I mean most of the star wars movies dialogue is laughable at the least when compared to other solid franchises......but this is all beyond my point, lets get back to that shall we...

...So after running these thoughts of nerd rage towards EPISODE 1 through my head I realize the whole argument is ridiculous....the point of the matter is I have standing before me an 8yr old girl who is excited to go see a STAR WARS movie. In a world where we now have pink Lego's (because apparently regular color Lego's are just too much for girls to handle) and millions of other stupid barriers that are set up to morph my daughter into a brainless clone of a living Bratz doll, here she is simply asking to share in an experience that I grew up with as well (I was a child who grew up with the Original trilogy and the prequels in my late teens/early twenties) and because of the horrible cynicism that our geek culture uses as its lifeblood I had for a second considered not taking her. But alas, that second passed and I decided there was no way we wouldn't be in attendance.

...After a week of her behaving at school to make sure I didn't cancel our trip we were off to see the movie. Her excitement was infectious, She couldn't wait to see if we got the special 3D glasses and toy our theater had advertised as part of a STAR WARS kids event day and I was excited for her. We got to the theater and had the fun of seeing a line full of parents and kids (some of whom were in full costume) all excited to experience the event together. We watched the movie, she participated in some of the free events after (face painting, Lego building..etc) and all in all we had a great day.

The one thing I think I took most from this was seeing how many parents and kids were out enjoying the movie together. Sure I still think EPISODE 1 is terrible in so many ways ( I literally cringe when I here the racist Asian accents of the trade federation and pretty much every time Jar Jar Binks is on screen) but it doesn't really matter. STAR WARS was never made for adults who nitpick every scene of a movie. In all honesty the prequels probably should have never been made because they re not meant for today's society. All 6 of the films thrive off the viewer either being a wide eyed child or an adult who can relate to that. These movies were made for children who don't notice the terrible parts in the world but simply see the fun and beauty of it.

So for 2+ hours I got to see the world through an 8yr olds eyes again and it was a lot of fun. It didnt matter that we already own this movie at home (on more video formats than Id like to admit). It didnt matter that the movie was in 3D (it added nothing to the film). All that mattered was that we had a fun time at the movies. Thats all STAR WARS has ever been about and that's all it ever needs to be. Also, I dare say one hasnt lived until they see an 8yr old girl ask to have her face painted like Darth Maul, while other kids run around pretending to be warriors from another Galaxy.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Just a quick ramble and some info while it lasts.....Looks like theres gonna be a cool fan event going on around the world on Monday Feb. 6th for the new spiderman movie.... these events are always fun and theres usually some cool stuff/giveaways for the fans.... heres the main link for all the sites http://www.theuntoldstorybegins.com/#